The Korean motion picture industry have been making some intriguing train movies of late. First it was that ice age forever train with Captain America in it. Snowpiercer. Loved Tilda Swinton in that, but I like her in everything.

Sunday, October 30, 2016

My local fire department is doing som PSA that if your smoke alarm is over 10 years old, you should throw it away.

You bugged me all that time to put up a smoke detector, now you want me to trash it? Ok. Wish you'd make up you mind.

The car people made us get air bags in our cars, then they told us the airbags kill children and now they are recalling them completely because of shrapnel. Apparently they kill more people than they save, and notice they don't put em in motorcycles. Another expensive add on I didn't want that they are now taking out of cars. Well, too late! I always disable to airbags on any car I own. I don't even fasten my safety belt. I remember when dad brought home the 1978 Bonneville, having traded in the 1960s era LeMans. This was the first car I had sat in with a lap and shoulder belt. I grabbed the belt to buckle it when dad grabbed my hand, "I'd rather see your sister in a whorehouse than you in a seatbelt." Then he beat me bloody with a sjambok. That was my ninth birthday.

Instead of pairs, I did tres this time. Try to do a good trigger pull T-Bolt. You're getting too fast with that. Sure it is a better fast, but you have a long way to go before you can rush things and get good results. That was my thought going in. I only succeeded so much.

First set of three has a vertical line above the hole. Second set is circled. .22 Remington bulk ammo, 25 feet.

Look at that highlighted target! All three from one set in one hole. Never done that before. That made me happy.

Hey! Let's measure! Measuring progress is always a good idea. How did I do with the first set versue the second set? Am I getting fatigued and the score is falling off as I go? Or am I just warming up?

1st set: 199 1x
2nd set: 213 3x

I think with all this practice I've been doing I am getting in better shooting shape and relaxing better when I am shooting, so I am not fatigued less, my stamina is better.

---
Since starting this regime I have gone throw 150 of one brand of CCI, 500 of another brand, 200 of trash Remington Gold, and 250 of Federal bulk ammo. I've had a quite a few magazine related FTEs, especially with the first 100 rounds a year ago before I took a magazine out of circulation. One dud round.

All with the Wilson branded Ceiner .22 conversion on a middling quality Springfield 1911 frame with a creepy trigger.

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Friday, October 28, 2016

The training guns at my gunsmiths simulator go through a lot of trigger springs. One a week for the one gun people generally choose. Every two weeks for the one with the sights no one likes.

A spring a week?!

Yes.

Do the math. An average day is 5 half hour sessions. 200 'shots' a session. (Trigger pulls. It goes fast when you don't need to reload magazines.) Average. 1000 trigger pulls a day, 6000 a week. Plus Sam and the apprentices mess around in there a LOT. So the number may well be higher.

How many rounds do you go through on your Glock before you need to think about the spring? 120 boxes of ammo?

Oh I am fully aware of my limitations. And I am currently still all torn down, and unsatisfied with how fast I am being built back up despite most every available weekend doing some sort of firearm training. Hmmm.

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Why do I bother to adhere to my state's gun laws when my state doesn't care to enforce them?

I further minimize even SEEING a police officer, much less having a, to me, negative interaction with said law enforcement officials by avoiding do stupid things with stupid people and stupid late times of night.

---

The last time I was pulled over was 3 years ago come December. They passed a law that you have to move over to the far lane if there is a cop on the shoulder. And right after the law went into effect they were trapping people for revenue with a cop car on the shoulder for no reason. I had a car FULL of guns. The guns never came up. Got my ticket and off I go.

"Gun-Running again, T-Bolt? I thought you gave up you illicit arms dealing ways?"

I asked the gunsmith how they accurized an M9 at the Army Marksmanship Unit. I know a bit about the 1911, but the Beretta is different.

It's complicated.

I asked Sam what it entailed. A bit of his explanation was over my head.

The barrel doesn't move, but lockup is happening all around it. And you want that to be consistently going to the same place every time, and be tight when it gets there. To start, get a slide with a hole for the barrel that needs to be reamed out to fit that barrel a lot tighter than factory.

Complicating matters is the aluminum construction. This accurized gun you make will be done in a season.

The sear engagement is very important, of course.

A commenter was kind enough to find an online resource in the same vein. A lotta stuff in that pdf link mirrors what Sam Hatfield was talking about.

He uses this study to establish a polar opposite narrative. I guess out side was getting across to folks.

Gun violence will go up not down, "Probably, experts say." Here is the link to the report. Then, "Most laws allowing civilians to bring guns on college campuses are relatively new, and there have been no studies to assess their effects directly." You don't say?"concluding that neither 'gun-free' zones nor right-to-carry gun laws appear to affect mass shootings in public spaces." Oh? where do you get that?"Proponents of right-to-carry laws that make it legal for individuals to carry firearms, both on and off college campuses, often blame mass shootings on 'gun-free zones' and argue that arming more civilians can deter or stop mass shootings. The best available evidence, however, does not support these claims." You said there was no evidence

They do say of the 111 mass shootings since 1966, only 13 were in a "truly gun free zone". So now we have something to argue against. I bet I can think of mass shootings off the top of my head and get more that 13. I wonder how they define their truly?

"Rather than deter gun violence, the most recent and most rigorous research on right-to-carry laws suggests that the laws are associated with increased violence with guns," Again, citation needed. That's a pretty big claim, and will require some pretty big backup

When folks cite Johns Hopkins be sure to correct them, "You mean Mike Bloomberg says, not Hopkins." Because that is true.

If I had been as into guns way back then as I was starting in 2007, I'd have TOTALLY been into the 10mm. Bad. Under its Svengali spell.

Let's say I had the wherewithal and interest in 1987 that I had in 2007. I'd have a Colt Python, I can almost guarantee, be really disappointed in my magazine-less Bren 10, and figure that there would only be 10mm semi-auto pistols available in 20 years.

Hmmm, what else?

Might have gotten a sub machine gun back then. I dunno if Uzi would sell itself to me, or a proper .45 Mac-10. Hopefully with a suppressor so I can grip it.

If I was smart I'd have sold that subbie in the early 2000s.

You know, I have never fired a 10mm. I've never fired a Beretta M9 style pistol, either. Or a Hi-Power. Prolly would have if I was into shooty goodness way back then in the Lethal Weapon and Miami Vice days.

Thinking, "T-Bolt, you have plenty of guns. You are covered man. You are gonna MAKE guns in the future, probably, and then you'll have more. What is this new gun and new caliber FOR? Other than something that might be fun. Not that there is anything wrong with having something for fun.. But is it for anything else, really?"

Hmmm. I don't know, me. Those are good questions.

No GLOCKS! Not my style. More likely to get a C96 in 9mm or a Boberg than a Glock. Even a S&W. Too ho-hum. Did you see the part about "this one also shoots .22TCM"? That is not ho-hum.

And I always liked my simplified inventory control with ammo by not clouding it up with a buncha different things. I've even been offloading .40 cal now that I have a 5.56 gun. So no extra complication, just a shift around.

But.

All the cool kids are getting 9mm. I am training in .22 only, and coming off that to big-boy centerfire, it might be better to go push the Easy-Button of recoild control. And I doubt the ghost of Jeff Cooper will haunt me too much.

So, I've been looking and dreaming.

"Time for that Glock 19, T-Bolt?"

Nah. While the simulator is all Glock, and I don't despise the platform as much as I once did, that wasn't what I was thinking.

Saturday, October 22, 2016

This horror movie came out the same year at Doctor Strangelove and Fail Safe. Radioactive monsters from the see on the shores of Connecticut. It's Connecticut, so no one has a firearm to shoot the monsters, but everyone is dressed like they are in Animal House.

Fail Safe is hilarious, it has Dom DeLuise from Smokey and the Bandit, Larry Hagman from I Dream of Jeannie. Walter Mathau from Bad News Bears and Odd Couple. Henry Fonda was no slouch at comedy either.

Friday, October 21, 2016

How do I even know that? They appear to be fine, but what if the plastic is full of dioxins? What if they melt more readily to the chamber walls compared to the competition? Have I test driven all the chamber flags out there?

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Some scenarios. With actors on the screen. Doing bad things. I didn't shoot the bystander this time. But it did highlight another known weakness. When aiming at center mass I shoot the belly too much. Belly shots are bad long term but not good if you want to quickly stop the guy trying to kill you. No bueno. Part of that is we often train to shoot too low on center mass targets. I mean, look at this target, and where is the X ring

At least that one is above the diaphragm. Some targets the bull is in the liver.

The other fun that was had was pepper popper point shooting. That was fun. And fast. New personal best of 57 in 30 seconds for poppers. Felt good, too. Felt relaxed. Bingo. Never done point shooting with Sam before.

Sumdood involved in the November 5th Manassas gun show was there with a plethor of WWI era Dreyse, and some later ones. This one was from a Yugoslav contract, that's an East German police gun, actually post WWII... Tam would have loved it. I know I did.

I think it's worth checking out Shooting Illustrated this month just to read Tam's Ode to the 10mm. A love affair long faded, yet there is the tiniest spark still buried under that practical and snarky 9mm toting exterior. It's sweet and funny and worth your time if you are any sort of gun geek.

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

I think I have talked about the movie Witness before. 1985 Harrison Ford (as Detective John Book) in Amish country, hiding from bad cops. Coulda swore I did a mention of it here a while back, but I can't find it. Anyway.

Sure sure, he is a big city detective. No call to shoot anybody really. Probably bought those 10 years ago and they've been sitting in his gun.

But wait... he had just had a shootout. Those would be the second set. Those 6 are his reloads. Been sitting in his pocket for 10 years.

If he did have to qualify at the police range, he might get away with using a full length Model 10 for better accuracy and score, and those semi wadcutter round nose still wouldn't get used. That's what I'd do, if allowed. So in the pocket they sat. Ostensibly. I doubt the movie makes thought that much about. But they have a lot of attention to detail elsewhere. Ford and McGuillis manage to emote when there is a close up on the BACKS of their heads. And I see a lot more knowing looks from all sorts of tertiary characters.

Monday, October 17, 2016

It's illegal to carry a firearm into a Post Office in the US. In Maryland, in Wyoming, wherever. It's just the Post Office, though. It's not like a courthouse where they have a metal detector and real honest to goodness law enforcement checking you are the door. So you could carry if you are discrete about it. So why not?

Because it is a federal beef, that's why not. And you aren't high up in the elite political apparatus. The laws actually apply to YOU. You don't get to laugh it off and get a raise. You go to a federal pound-you-in-the-something penitentiary.

But why are post offices so special?

Well, you know how there is a killer clown craze right now? Mass hysteria. Hallucinations. Then copy cats. Then more copy cats. Then irrational panic. Probably be legislation about clown outfits soon. Collective Obsessional Behavior.

Well, in the mid 1980s we had Satanic Cults running all the day care centers. And at the same time some people shot up their post office, usually as workplace violence. One person getting driven over the edge pushed another to copy, and so on and so on. They went Postal.

At the time the finger was pointed all abouts. Cutback pressures meant more work for fewer post office employees, maybe the stress is getting to them? It's all that sumbitz Reagan's fault. The mail just keeps coming and Coming and COMING. Algore had to invent email to help take the load off. Postal employees are less likely to go homicidal compared to other job types, but that's beside the point. It is the most kill-y of gov't jobs. Surprised more folks in the MVA aren't slaughtered, based on how popular they are...

But that's not all. Congress couldn't just sit there, they had to do something. Legislation must be passed!

"So are you saying Congress passed a law banning firearms at the post office because of these mid-80's homicides, T-Bolt?"

Oh no, I'm not saying that. They realized that they had already passed that in the gun control conniptions 15 years before. So they just squawked about it. ENFORCE THE LAW HARDER! But if there hadn't been a law agin it, you know the law would have been passed then. And now cops were on the look out and newly minted Florida CCW folks, and later other states, were at hazard. The law didn't form because of the hysteria but they law plus the hysteria got people thinking "Hey, maybe we should search all the employee vehicles weekly...

So what is the big deal, T-Bolt?

Well, the hysteria may have passed after 30 years, when it comes to the post office. You may or may not be able to have a gun in your car in the post office parking lot these days.

The clown thing will pass too. In 30 years you will be able to wear a big red nose in public again. After the coming Anti-Clown Acts are done up in Congress, they'll realize before they get too far to take the teeth out of the new clown laws. Because those new regs might logically be applied to Congress as well.

Or, if legislation doesn't move fast and hard enough, just rely on existing law and hound and railroad a bunch of innocent people. SOP. Arrest clowns for felony Mopery.

Don't CCW into your local Post Office, and definitely don't do it full makeup and clown regalia, even when you are being perfectly innocent about it. That's T-Bolt's safety tip for the month.

Sunday, October 16, 2016

There was a time when something like this would intrigue me more... The Scavenger 6.

I've always liked the idea of such a multi caliber survival gun. And this one is looking to go over the top on quantity of possible chamberings. But my enthusiasm wanes as I gain more experience and look to simplify my life.

A gun like that would be great if after the apocalypse random ammo would be found as loot like it is in the Fallout 4 vidja gamez!

Thursday, October 13, 2016

So, now the Army SF is eschewing the 1911 for a Glock 19, huh? I already thought they ignored the 1911 in the field, and this isn't really news.

But that's not what I am on about. Notice the dog that didn't bark here and in the story about MARSOC going from 1911 to Glock. No word, or very little word, about the M9 Beretta. Sad Trombone for the Italians.

A little inside baseball. When Sam was at the Army Marksmanship unit not too long ago the shooters used 1911s. The trigger is excellent and gunsmithing/armorer support for the shooting team was second to none, so they could tune their guns for accuracy out the wazoo. Still do. If you want to hit the 10 ring with a pistol at 50 yards as often as possible...

But the command came down to accurize the M9. The Army used the M9, it would also compete with one if it so desired.

"Impossible, Skipper!"

"Make it happen!"

"Yes sir."

So a long effort was put in to figure out ways to fine tune a Beretta. And they did. But it wasn't easy. I must try to get the details of what went into that.

A super accurized M9 or 1911 are probably not what a SF operator necessarily needs to do his job.

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

So, a guy with a brand new permit to purchase handgun is still shopping. He knows he is ignorant, so he asks questions of me rather than going to a gun forum or summat. The new LCP came up and he asked if it was 9mm, and I went PURE PEDANT on him. But in a good way. No really.

I remember when I was plug ignorant on the subject, here, and how becoming less ignorant was kinda neat. But I was flying blind and typed this up from memory, not even a wiki search to be sure I didn't confuse sumthin.

No, it's not what you are thinking. Not 9mm NATO, aka (for the most part) 9mm Luger.The LCP shoots the 9mm Short, aka the 9mm Kurz, aka the 9mm Browning, aka the .380ACP. ACP = automatic colt pistol. Two different rounds, with lots of names for those 2 thingsThe first one has a case a little bit longer. That's the only difference. Other than little bit of brass they cram a lot more propellant in there so the pill goes a lot faster. You know what has an even LONGER cartridge case and the same size bullet? That .38 Special. But the .38SPL is much 'weaker' than the 9mm Luger. There is room to cram more powder in a .38, but they don't. Not and still call it a .38. Old guns would become hand grenades if they did. NEW gun that only expected .38 Special pressure would too.But, if you crammed more powder in there and made a gun that could handle the pressure... Maybe made it a trifle longer only so that you couldn't accidentally load this hot new round in a weaker old revolver... Then you'd have a .357 Magnum.

The light went on over his head. He understood more. And didn't lead him too far astray with BS.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Tam finds duds. she shoots more than me, but she does seem to get more duds. Proportionately

I can count on one hand the number of dud I've had. But sadly, I've never documented it. Ima be much more meticulous on that in the future with the centerfire guns I've 'made'.

That said, I'd did have a dud .22 only last Saturday. I treated it wrong. I was too quick to clear instead of waiting out a hangfire. Quick malfunction drill to super safety? People go both ways.

Hey Tam! Do you ever come across a round in your 2000 round endurance challenges where you go, "Damn, that one is all Broke-Richard, I can tell by looking at it." And then are tempted to not even try it? Like the bullet is set too deep and swelling the case, or the primer is in sideways? I assume you don't try to run an obvious problematic round. You are testing a gun with a variety of ammos for reliability, not the ammo for reliability, so my guess is you toss one like that in the rare case you find one.

Monday, October 10, 2016

You can see I was doing mostly the "5 shots in 4 seconds" drill. Even in hurry up mode I am keeping it in center mass. The other target is long gone but was less embrassing with lots more in the 10 ring.

Sunday, October 9, 2016

The bottom 3 are "push out and do 4 fast ones". Rougher than with Sam in training.

The top ones are pairs, then pairs again with big rests between. Second set of pairs were better than the first, invariably. I circled the first pair in each. Dunno why I got better the second round. Pah! Frustrating.

Saturday, October 8, 2016

I shave with a straight razor on weekends. For fun. As a treat. I've blogged about it.

I went to one of them fancy barbers that still do the hot towels and whatnot and shave you with a straight razor. I am an amateur. I wanted to know how it felt when a professional does it.

MUCH faster. And less grabby. His strokes were much smoother than mine. Sure of themselves.

I asked him what the most realistic representation of a straight razor shave he saw in a movie. Right away he said Peter Pan. Smee shaves Hook. He has the grip right, the strokes, and even does the backhand right, he said.

Thursday, October 6, 2016

On press out from a ready position where the pistol is close in to the chest, you can save some time in front sight acquisition by looking down at the front sight half through your presentation. So by the time your arms are halfway there, you are looking down at the sight. Half surprisingly, when you reach shooting position everything is lined up and you aren't hunting around for that front sight in the notch. You save half a second.

I knew this technique, but now I have a specific instruction to drill it.

Might be trouble. The Elite Shoot Sports range has a nice premium target trolley. It can have the target turned sideways, then after an interval face the target toward you for 4 seconds, then turn it back. You've seen those, too. The NRA range also has this. But my regular range does not. My normal range close by has the fancified motorized clothelines style and that's it. With the appearing/disappearing target, and concentrating on the trigger reset, I can get off 5 rounds pretty easily in 4 seconds. No big deal. Anybody that does shooting competitions can do that from the holster. But... At my regular range they might get salty if I shoot that fast, even. You know how a range can be.

The other drill is just what I've been doing. But slower. Fire two shots, concentrating on pinning the trigger and the reset. Maybe a third shot. Then put the gun down. Bring the target back and look at it. The break is important. When I shoot the first one or two is better than 4 or 5 or the 6th shot. Not relaxed enough.

Sam also brought his 9mm Glock with a red dot on the frame. He was testing that, for giggles, and let me shoot a few. Thing is, I haven't shot a centerfire pistol in over a year! My recoil control is gone, and hasn't been trained back into me. Hopefully soon.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

"I like having a very direct and very powerful impact on worker safety
and health. If you put out a reg, it matters. I think that’s really
where the thrill comes from. And it is a thrill; it’s a high… I love
it; I absolutely love it. I was born to regulate. I don’t know why,
but that’s very true. So as long as I’m regulating, I’m happy."

Marthe Kent
OSHA director of safety standards program.

The amount of ill feelings I now hold for this Kent... person... is immense. But she's been dead 2 years. That quote is from 16 years ago.

Amazing that she took such joy in spreading such tyranny. Well, she can't cause any more harm now.

I am of two minds. I am a bit of an individual rights absolutist. You should be able to carry from the word jump.

But I also like equipment and training requirements. $1000 for a gun and holster and ammo. $1000 worth of decent training. Just spitballing it. And more training and practice after that. Not just the $200 training class that some places make you do before issuing a CCW.

But I am very much against the government mandating that requirement. In my perfect world you require yourself to invest in that. No one tells you to. Like I said yesterday.

My perfect world and the world we live in are two different things. A bit of a contradiction.

I err on the side of zero regulation and Vermont style carry. And I don't lose any sleep over some jurisdictions with reasonable extra shall-issue requirements. NONE of those requirements in any state has people taking $1000 worth of training with $400 worth of ammo (assuming $500 gun and $100 holster). Not to my knowledge.

I need to take more and varied training classes. Like Masaad's, for one.

I won't spoil to much but they spend a lotta time in a deluxe fallout shelter. Really nice. And anticipated being in that shelter for over a year, but... I had some misgivings.

They talked about a generator, and had electricity, but what was powering the generator? Where was it? Fuel for over a year?

There were shelves of food in a storeroom. Lots of supplies. But a year's worth? Where's the rest?

There was a garbage chute in the shelter. How big is the space all the garbage is going for a year?

Where is the water coming from and where is the sewage going to?

They are pretty deep in the ground. The living area would be like where a basement would be under your current basement. On a farm in a flat area of Louisiana. So I am concerned about flooding or the sewage or garbage backing up because there is no downhill from there.

Hanging around survivalists makes me think of these things, these details. And it takes my head out of the dramatic narrative.

Which is stupid, as my head readily accepts other fantastical details the movie offers up. But despite all this post, it's a decent flick. You'd like it. Go ahead.

Gun content: John Goodman has a what looks like a bog standard S&W Model 10. That's it.

Sunday, October 2, 2016

I stopped drinking for a month last January. I had read in some Brit
news site that to quit for one month does wonderful long lasting help
for all sorts of health areas. Improves your cholesterol, your blood
sugar, you liver numbers, your blood pressure. And my annual physical
is in February, so...

Plus I wanted to see if I could.
Not drink. Because a week hasn't gone by since my teens when I hadn't
drank some thing alcoholic. Often a lotta something. Maybe I had a
problem? So, if I can't quit for a month I'd know, "Yup, got a serious
problem over here!" But it was easy. Much easier than smoking for
example. MUCH easier.

And I didn't want it to be a
problem. I love beer. I was a Head Brewer for a LIVING through much of
the 90s. If it paid better I'd still be, maybe. Beer is wonderful. I
didn't want it to be an enemy and was so happy it was not.

So what did the Doc and lab results tell me last February? What was the great benefits realized? What were the side effects?

Very little. Them Brit health folks lie. Nothing budged. The only impact was weight loss, and nothing budged. It bound me up like Dick's Hatband. Losing a few ell-bees was nice, though. For that alone, it was worth it.

So worth it I decided to not drink in September too. But THIS time I invested in fruit juices with added fiber. Boy, howdy! That helped ease things a bit.

That was September. This is October, of course. So by the time this publishes I will be hungover. Probably.

I figure in less than 2 years you won't be able to buy a box of Winchester White Box .45 ACP at any Walmart. Then in less than 10 online perveyors will stop offering it. In 25 years even the esoteric catalog houses won't carry it. People will look at you funny like you are trying to get .22 Jet or 6mm Lee Navy

First Jeff Cooper dies, then SaysUncle buys a 9mm M&P, and now this. .45ACP is now an orphan round. I think the Marines were the last large institution to still issued .45. Lots of those cops shops from the 90s that went Kimber have mostly switched back to 9mm. And with nobody using .45, Joe Schmoes like me have no reason to ape the usage.

All those 1911 classes for nothing! Maybe I can re-barrel them to shoot .22 TCM. Something that will be around a bit longer.

Good Advice

"You never select a shotgun as your primary anti-zombie firearm. It's great for onesy twosey, but zombies travel in hordes. The reload time is onerous, and the ammo, while effective, is heavy and bulky and short ranged."

Big Mistake for Her

If Ginsberg had let Scalia put the words "strict scrutiny" in Heller and Hillary said "Gun control is just not going to be a priority for my administration," Hillary would have been elected President.

About Me

Preamble

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.